New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is facing a swift Twitter backlash after saying he believes it is time to “move on” to a new Supreme Court candidate regardless of whether Brett Kavanaugh is “innocent or guilty” of sexual assault.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Booker said that Kavanaugh’s “credibility has been challenged by intimates” in his life and that “enough questions” have been raised to justify moving on to a new candidate for the Supreme Court, whether he is guilty of sexual assault or not. Kavanaugh has been accused of attempted rape by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, but has denied that the assault, which allegedly took place in 1982, ever happened.

Sen. Cory Booker wants to “move onto a new candidate” and does not care whether Kavanaugh is “innocent or guilty.” pic.twitter.com/TwKpkbPWzh

Booker also said the US was facing a “moral moment” and that Americans should ask themselves: “Is this the right person to sit on the highest court in the land for a lifetime appointment?” But the senator’s seeming indifference to Kavanaugh’s innocence or guilt quickly raised eyebrows online.

Former White House advisor Sebastian Gorka tweeted that Booker had engaged in “character assassination” of Kavanaugh and had no right to suggest that his innocence or guilt was irrelevant. In another tweet, Gorka reminded his followers that Booker himself had admitted groping a girl in high school when he was 15 years old.

Mr Spartacus @CoryBooker has the audacity to lecture Americans on the sacred nature of the Supreme Court?

Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin said Booker had dismissed the “devastating impact of false, uncorroborated allegations in the courts of public opinion” on what coincidentally was International Wrongful Conviction Day.

Booker was also accused of attempting to draw the spotlight onto himself with a dramatic speech at last week’s hearing, during which Ford and Kavanaugh testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. One Twitter user commented that he seemed to be working on securing a “daytime Emmy nomination” for his performance.